


Sleepyhead

by strawberryklance



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Evil Teacher Sendak what else is new, Fluff, M/M, POV Lance (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-18 00:59:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9356954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberryklance/pseuds/strawberryklance
Summary: Inspired by this Tumblr prompt: You keep falling asleep in the lectures and I keep waking you up so you don’t get in trouble, so to make sure you stay awake a brought you coffee with my number on it.the whole post - http://stardust-sketcher.tumblr.com/post/118754184506/otp-au-ideas





	

Lance cares about other people. He's the middle child of a big family where looking after your siblings is a given. Two people can't always take care of five children by themselves – caring is Lance's second nature. If he sees that someone is struggling with carrying their things, he will immediately go over and help out. Kids at the playground know him for shooing their bullies. Lance will always make sure that his little sister's wheelchair has stickers on the armrests. He loves people and people love him, it's simple, really. So when he notices that the guy in his philosophy class keeps falling asleep, he makes it his mission to protect him from their intimidating teacher.

Lance remembers seeing the guy before – he's always hiding under his hoodie, head face-down on the desk. The teacher doesn't really notice him because he sits in the very back and does everything he can to make himself invisible, but Lance knows it will only be a matter of time. He doesn't know the guy's name, and he kind of wishes their teacher called out their names instead of making them mark themselves on his list. All Lance knows about the guy is that he takes the same philosophy as him and has some kind of sleeping issues. Insomnia, maybe?

Before the lesson Lance decides to sit next to Sleepyhead he is a bit nervous. The guy mostly keeps to himself, so what if he gets annoyed at Lance for sitting next to him? There's no way Lance can look out for him from the other side of the classroom. He tells Pidge about his plan, and even though she is more wary than him – considering neither of them really know anything about the guy – she doesn't try to stop her friend. It's common knowledge that Lance's mind is not to be changed when it's set on a plan. Especially if it involves helping others.

When Lance makes his way over, Sleepyhead has already laid his head down onto the desk, black clumps of hair falling from beneath his hood. His breathing is steady and slow, but Lance can see his fingers moving against his knee. Lance takes a deep breath and sits down next to him, not saying a word. Sleepyhead's shoulders tense for a moment, as if waiting for something to happen. Lance stays silent. The boy then slowly lifts his head, turning to lock eyes with Lance, forehead in a crease.

“Did,” he starts hoarsely, then clears his throat, “did you need something?”

Lance smiles pleasantly and shakes his head. “Nope! Just sitting here,” he says.

Sleepyhead nods, suspicion in his eyes. It's understandable – Lance has never seen anyone sit here next to the guy. It must be weird to have a random dude come over and just sit down like he's been sitting there all semester.

The class starts, and Sleepyhead's breathing evens out. He has his book out and open, but he obviously isn't using it. Lance keeps an eye out for the teacher, hunching over protectively to keep Sleepyhead covered. He knows that in order to actually help, he has to avoid raising his hand or visibly participating. If the teacher looked his way for more than two seconds, he would notice that the boy next to him is asleep. Lance knows Sendak; he had him last year – he yelled at a student for zoning out in class. Lance will do anything to avoid that from happening to anyone else. It was traumatizing for everyone in the room.

It's an uneventful lesson, and by the end of it, Lance makes sure to gently nudge Sleepyhead's arm. He doesn't know how the guy manages to wake up in time to leave the classroom before Sendak notices that he was asleep. Lance is not going to risk it, though. He's on a mission. Sleepyhead stirs and lifts his head up, but doesn't look at Lance.

\- - -

Lance's help isn't really needed until the following week. The classroom is quiet as the teacher explains the instructions to an essay they are supposed to be starting that day. When he says that he will be walking around to see if everyone has an idea of what viewpoint they're writing the essay from, Lance knows he needs to stay alert. He opens up his laptop in front of him, but keeps his eyes on the front of the classroom, where the teacher is sitting. Lance sees Sleepyhead open up a blank document on his laptop before he lays his head back down.

Thirty minutes go by in peace, and Lance is mostly focusing on his essay. The teacher is slowly making his way to the people in the front row, ready to interrogate all of them. Sleepyhead still has time to snooze before Lance will have to disturb him.

When the professor reaches the middle row, Lance nudges Sleepyhead.

“Hey,” he whispers. “Sendak is heading this way. You should write something down before he gets here.”

Sleepyhead blinks at Lance, surprised. He then looks to the teacher, hunched over a student's desk, and nods. “Thanks.”

“No problem!” Lance smiles.

\- - -

On the next lesson, Sendak eyes Sleepyhead suspiciously, as if trying to figure out if the guy is asleep or just resting his head on his arms. Lance panics, stomping his foot down on Sleepyhead's. Not his proudest moment, but he had to do something – Sleepyhead doesn't deserve to get yelled at by some middle-aged dude who really doesn't know him well enough to blame him for falling asleep. It's possible that Sleepyhead is just lazy and doesn't care for philosophy, but Lance really doesn't believe the theory. There's something more there. The guy is sound asleep on every single lesson, and the dark bags under his eyes are too visible to be normal.

Sleepyhead startles awake from the pain on his foot, his head shooting up. Sendak loses interest in him the moment he sees the guy awake, and turns away. Lance sighs in relief.

“What was that for?” Sleepyhead hisses.

“Sendak was looking at you,” Lance says. “I'm so sorry. It didn't hurt too much, did it?”

Once again, Sleepyhead looks surprised. “Oh...no, it's okay. Thank you.”

Lance smiles. “Anytime.”

\- - -

“My name is Keith,” Sleepyhead says the following week.

Lance feels like he's going to burst from joy. Sleepyhead – or Keith – actually spoke to him! He started a conversation!

“I'm Lance,” he replies, grinning. “Nice to finally put a name to the face. Been calling you 'Sleepyhead' up until now.”

Keith's mouth twitches up and he lets out the smallest of laughs. It's a shy sound coupled with a shy face, and Lance loves it. Making people smile is one of his favorite things to do. And, to be completely honest, Keith has really grown on him. He's realized that under the hood and long hair there's a cute guy who just needs to be cared for, someone who never expects others to help him. Lance can see it in the wide eyes Keith makes every time he saves him from Sendak.

“Yeah, I uh, I work night shifts at Subway.”

Lance frowns. “You really don't get enough sleep, do you?”

Keith shrugs awkwardly. “I'm used to it.”

It's not what Lance wants to hear.

\- - -

Lance hesitates in front of the doors of Starbucks, wallet clutched in hand. What if Keith hates all coffee? What if he thinks Lance is being weird? What if he doesn't want Lance to buy him coffee? The possibilities are endless. But Lance can't stand still for much longer – class starts in ten minutes, and he has a five minute walk from Starbucks. He should really buy that coffee now.

He orders a black coffee with Keith's name, and sneaks a pack of sugar into his pocket. He really has no idea how Keith takes his coffee, and now that he thinks about it, he really should have asked. To be fair, Keith seems like the type to drink black coffee. Why would he be so tired if he drank coffee, though? This might be a bad idea.

Keith's coffee in hand, Lance gets another bad idea. He asks to borrow a sharpie from the barista, and scribbles his number right under Keith's name.

He arrives three minutes late, but Sendak only glares at him from the front of the class before resuming his explanation. Keith looks up when Lance enters, and his eyes follow him as he walks across the classroom to his seat next to Keith.

“I got you something,” he whispers, smiling.

Keith's eyes widen as the coffee in Lance's hand is suddenly thrust across the two desks over to him. It's that surprised look again, the one that's been haunting Lance's memories ever since he first saw it. It's as if no one has ever done anything for Keith before.

“I – you bought me coffee?”

“Yeah. Oh, and here's some sugar. I don't know how you drink your coffee or if you even drink it, but I recommend having at least a little bit. To help you stay awake.”

“You didn't need to.”

“I wanted to.”

“But – I -” Keith turns the cup over in his hands, and his eyes fixate on the phone number written underneath his name. A blush spreads across his cheeks. “Uh?”

Lance bites his lip, equally nervous. “Text me?”

Keith looks at him in the eyes. “Really?”

“Of course really.”

“I'm – I don't know what to say.”

“You don't have to --”

“Boys in the back! If you aren't interested in the lesson, I suggest you leave.”

They shut up. Lance sees Keith take a sip of the coffee from the corner of his eye. Keith makes a side-eyed glance back. Shy smiles arise on both of their faces.

**Author's Note:**

> not my best at all, literally just wrote this out of boredom. hope you like it anyway?


End file.
